SWOSH! The fake Merlin grabbed the city lord and flew away as fast as she could, barely dodging the rain of firebolts fired at them by Arad.
PEEEEEEEEEW! Arad flew with an ear-piercing whistle, propelled by the flame beneath his feet. With the fake Merlin carrying the city lord, he easily flew past them.
^I can't keep up.^ The fake Merlin gasped as she Arad turned and swung a kick at the city lord's face, sending him flying in the other direction. She growled, her wrists stinging from sudden jerk.
[Magic...] She was about to cast a spell, but Arad immediately punched her in the face and grabbed her by the hand. [Fire Kick]
[Barrier] She managed to protect her torso with a simple barrier at the last second, but that didn't protect her left wrist from snapping from the recoil.
BAM! The city lord rushed at Arad with his sword lifted up.
Arad smiled, swinging his quarterstaff and throwing it at Merlin, propelled with a jet at its back tip. CLANG! The staff hit Merlin's barrier, pushing her across the streets away from Arad and the city lord.
SWOSH! The city lord swung his sword at Arad's neck, but it was dodged. Arad bent down and spun on the ground, sending a swiping kick at the lord's ankles.
The city lord shifted his weight to his back leg to not fall and then swung his sword down at Arad.
With a passive face, Arad stood and tackled the city lord, holding him in a bear hug and preventing him from swinging. "I know I can't punch armor with human knuckles. So how about I give you a hot hug?"
Arad's body burst into flame, engulfing the whole street.
The city lord screamed his lungs out, his voice shaking the whole city.
PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! Five magic missiles flew from the buildings, aiming at Arad's head.
Arad let go of the city lord, kicking him away as he dodged by flying into the air. The magic missiles shifted direction, chasing him down.
^I can't shake them off, they are probably homing attacks.^ Arad smiled, flying directly toward the fake Merlin.
"I can lead those to Merlin," Arad shouted, "But I'm the ruler of this land, I won't do something so underhanded to prove my ownership."
[Barrier] Arad covered his body with a barrier and then tanked three magic missiles before shattering, but in the meantime, he already got the second barrier ready to go and blocked the remaining two.
"You fell for it," The fake Merlin pointed her staff at him. "I call a blinding flash, the divine judgment of the storms," She screamed, [Lightning Beam]
A pure white stream of lightning flashed forward from the tip of her staff, rushing toward Arad.
Merlin's feet lifted from the ground a little bit, causing her to fall back and her staff to swing back, messing her aim and projecting the beam toward the sky.
BAM! Arad landed in front of her, grabbing her by the face. VOOOM! Flame gushed beneath his feet as he flew forward with her, smashing through the wooden walls of the city building and killing half of the residents there.
"GAAAA!" Merlin screamed, pointing her staff a his face. At the same time, all the people inside the house that they stopped in rushed at Arad with knives.
CRACK! Arad dodged the spear, letting it pierce the ground instead. Immediately he punched Merlin in the guts, sending her flying across the walls before bursting into another [Fire Cloak] And killing everyone in the house.
The fake Merlin puked blood, glaring forward as Arad walked out of the fire with the people screaming behind him.
"Don't worry, I won't slap you," He smiled, "Dalla said that was for the weak to challenge the strong. It's not for the strong to teach the weak a lesson."
"You monstrous bastard," She growled.
"This labyrinth is on my land, so you walk by my rules." He walked toward her, fists clenched.
BAM! The city lord burst through the wall, swinging his sword with a half-burnt body.
Arad smiled, jumped back, and flew through the walls with jets of fire gushing out of his hands.
"Come back here!" The city lord shouted, rushing through the smoke, dust, and debris to catch him. The moment he got out, he saw Arad standing there, with his staff in hand.
^Don't tell me, he dragged Merlin all the way here to retrieve his quarterstaff,^ The city lord gasped as Arad stared at him with a grin.
BAM! Arad lunged forward, swinging the quarterstaff at the lord's head.
"You won't!" The lord lifted his sword to block, but a jet of flames burst beneath Arad's feet, causing him to jump over the lord and smack him in the back.
GAH! The lord gasped, feeling a sharp pain rushing through his spine.
Arad smiled, opening his palm and pointing at the lord's back with his fingers.
BA-BA-BAM! A constant stream of fire bolts bashed the lord's back, sending him flying toward the next building. The whole street got pained red from the crimson flames.
The fake Merlin pointed her staff at him, "Stop!"
Arad turned his face, his arm moving with the quarterstaff and pointing at her.
BA-BA-BAM! He started blasting her, and she barely protected herself with a barrier.
^My mana is quickly running dry,^ The fake Merlin growled. ^I can't keep fighting for long. I don't have the original's recycling skills.^
She is a fake. After all, she lacks all of Merlin's powerful skills and abilities and even lacks the massive mana pool. In all aspects, she but a fragment of her power.
^We made a mistake. Void dragons are called magic dragons for a reason. Even with his power sealed and his mind weakened by his human body, his soul is still that of a dragon.^
"I finally understood it," Arad laughed, stopping his barrage of fire bolts and flying into the sky with jets, finally standing on a barrier platform. "I understood why brother loves magic so much!" He put his hands together.
"No! We sealed that." The fake Merlin cried, her knees shaking.
"He's bluffing! Attack him. There is no way he could pull his expansion off with his human body." The city lord screamed his lungs out.
Arad glared down at them with two red eyes, "Time to cook,"